Why Believe the Worst?

Years ago I was watching a TV show where the hero and heroine parted ways because the hero said “I’m not ready to be as in love with anyone as I am with you.” Essentially, he had other things to do than be in love, but he DID love her very much. For some reason that scene really stuck with me because at the time I had just stopped seeing a person who had said things to me such as, “Won’t it be wonderful when we can tell our children…” or “I never thought someone like you would care for someone like me.” However, after dating for a handful of months, and making many endearing promises, he stopped calling me cold and wouldn’t return my calls. After I saw the TV scene described above, I decided that the reason he had stopped calling was because he was madly in love with me and just couldn’t handle it. After all, what possible purpose could it serve for me question myself because of his inability to tell me why he had stopped calling? None.

I strive to adopt this attitude of believing the best, in all aspects of my life and I was recently reminded of this lesson in a professional setting. Last November I did some work for an organization and a couple of people said that they would put me in touch with someone higher up in the organization which would likely mean even more work. However, the referral never came, and when I emailed the people to remind them, they never got back in touch with me. Sometimes a dark thought would flit across my brow, but I managed to always keep in mind that silence does not mean forces are working against you!

My optimism was rewarded in January when I was invited back to do some more work with the company, and imagine my surprise when I hardly recognized anybody. Apparently there had been a huge change in the team the end of last year and the two people who had been my contacts had both left the company. It was an excellent reminder to me that believing the worst serves absolutely no purpose. After all, if you are never going to know why something happened, why not believe something that builds you up rather than tears you down? Namaste.